Learning to Play
by IzzieStar
Summary: John teaches 'Lizabeth to play golf and an incident leaves her wondering whether their relationship really is platonic.
1. Chapter 1

Elizabeth looked down at the golf club in her hand and shook her head, before swinging back to_ try _to hit the tiny white ball on the ground in front of her. Did they have to be _so_ tiny? And did these clubs have to be _so_ heavy? Every time she swung backwards, her arms sort of collapsed into her body and then she'd lose 'momentum' according to him. Him who had pointedly asked her when Carson was in hearing distance so she couldn't say no. Carson had been on at her for months to try and find a hobby that would help her 'relax'. Golf, it seemed, didn't. Since she had started, half an hour ago, she had found herself increasingly frustrated as she either missed the ball, or hit it at an angle which meant it collided into a wall and nearly hit her on the rebound.

'Hey, hey, hey.' John said, as she pulled the club back.

She turned to look at him, and he walked over starting to look a little frustrated. Gently he placed one hand on the inside of her left arm, and the other on her elbow and pulled her arm across her body, slowly, in a straight motion. Elizabeth felt a small blush rise to her cheeks, and prayed he didn't notice as she tried to look anywhere other than his face.

'You just need to slow down, and straighten this arm out. It's folding in on you.'

'Well these clubs are pretty heavy.' Elizabeth said defensively.

'Sorry, there aren't any women's clubs on base. But I promise you'll stop having to shield yourself from stray balls if you keep this arm straight on you back swing.' John said stepping back.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him, and looked down at the ball. Slow and straight. Okay. She lined herself up in the way he had taught her to and brought the club backwards, carefully focussing on trying to keep her arm straight. Swinging forwards, she heard the club connect with the ball and looked up to see it hit the sea in front of her. It hadn't gone very far, but at least it had gone straight this time!

'There you go.' John said, smiling.

Elizabeth continued to practice for another twenty minutes, before John insisted they went for lunch, and she had to admit, she had kind of enjoyed it. Since John had helped her improve her backswing, every ball had landed in the sea. Admittedly, in various directions which were anything other than straight, but it felt good to finally be able to hit the ball without fearing for her life. And it felt good to have the fresh air on her face, and the warmth of the sun on her skin. That was almost as good as the golf.

'I told you, it's all in the backswing.' John said, as they headed to the mess hall.

'Several times.' Elizabeth said, smiling to herself.

'So, do you want to try again sometime?' John asked hopefully.

'Maybe.'

'I'm a very busy man Doctor Weir, and my teaching skills are very much in demand. If you're going to want me again, I need more of a commitment than 'maybe'.' John said, using air quotations.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at his childlike persistence, 'Fine.'

'That's a yes?'

'Yes. Same time next week?'

'It's a date.' He said with a smile.

'Erm, Doctor Weir.' Carson said, from behind her.

Elizabeth turned round, 'Carson.'

'I just wanted to give you these stock numbers.'

Elizabeth accepted the forms, 'Thanks Carson.'

'How was the golf?'

'It was great. She's a natural.' John said, touching her arm slightly.

'I wouldn't go that far.' Elizabeth said, smiling at John.

'Aye.' Carson said.

'We're just going to get lunch; do you want to join us?' Elizabeth asked.

'Already had it. Elizabeth would you be able to come up to the infirmary later? There're a few things I need to go over with you.' Carson said.

'Sure. I'll come straight after lunch.'

Carson gave her a final smile before heading back to the infirmary. There was something about the way he looked at her though...a hint of amusement, almost as if he was teasing her without her knowing the reasoning behind it. Oh well. She was pretty certain she'd be finding out after lunch.


	2. Chapter 2

It was good to escape her office to eat a meal with some company once in a while. Elizabeth reflected on this as she slowly strolled to the infirmary, trying to enjoy her break for a little bit longer. John had seemingly taken it upon himself to make sure she started to live a fraction of a normal life and had now not only pressed her into another golf practice, but had also made her promise to join him for dinner in the evening. It really was very sweet of him, given that were hundreds of things he would rather be doing in his spare time.

When Elizabeth arrived in the infirmary Carson was in his office, waving her in enthusiastically. Such behaviour was uncharacteristic from him and she was more than a little intrigued. As soon as she walked into the office, he discreetly passed a packet into her hand. She gave a confused look before opening the paper bag to see a pile of condoms.

'I can't begin to tell you how happy I am for you and the Colonel. If you'd like to look at a more long-term contraception then I can book you in, but these should get you through for now.' He said gleefully.

'Me? John? Carson, have you gone mad?' Elizabeth asked.

His face fell slightly, 'I thought...He said in the corridor you were dating.'

'We'd just agreed to play golf again – it was a figure of speech.'

Carson sat back in his chair, blushing deeply and obviously uncertain about what he could say to try and cover up for his confusion or at least explain it. To try and put his at ease, Elizabeth smiled at him and sat down on the chair opposite him, gently placing the condoms on his desk.

'I don't know what to say.' Carson said.

'Don't say anything. I'm willing to forget this altogether. I'm curious though, are always this excited at the prospect of people pairing up in Atlantis.'

'Err, no.' Carson said, not quite meeting her eye.

'Then why me and John?' Elizabeth asked curiously.

'If you want the truth, I thought you were in love with each other. I'm not the only one either.'

Elizabeth's mouthed dropped slightly, 'How? I don't understand.'

'The way you look at each, the way John insists on taking care of you, the relief that's in your eyes when he eludes death. Once again.' Carson smiled weakly.

'Well you're mistaken. We're just friends. And colleagues.' Elizabeth said.

'You might want to make sure that John feels the same way. I'm sure you wouldn't want him to get hurt.'

'No. Of course not. I'll see you later, Carson.'

Instead of heading for her office where there were order forms that needed her signature, she went straight to the nearest balcony to get some fresh air. Fresh air which she hoped would alleviate the dizziness she had suddenly started experiencing in Carson's office. In many ways, the biggest shock had been that it wasn't much of a shock at all. People were bound to talk. Life could get pretty monotonous at times and naturally people would turn to gossip. And when she had wondered once or twice whether her feelings for him were more than they ought to be, she'd always come to the conclusion that they weren't though.

And then there was John. Was he in love with her? Until Carson had mentioned it, she hadn't even given it any thought. He was her _friend. _Best friend. And the fact that he insisted on looking after her was completely down to that. Doubt began to creep into her mind as she thought about the way he looked at her, in a way that conveyed his feelings without the need for words. And the way she had felt when his hands had been on her skin. At the thought, her body involuntarily trembled. No. That was because it had been so long since physical contact with a man, she persuaded herself.

The previous excitement with which she had been looking forward to dinner that night had completely vanished.


	3. Chapter 3

John had arrived exactly on six o'clock as he had promised and half dragged her to the mess hall amidst protestations about a few extra orders that needed looking over. It occurred to her, at that moment, how much she really enjoyed having somebody around who cared about her and she again reminded of Carson's curiosity regarding her relationship with Sheppard. Deep down, she knew she should talk to John about it and clarify what they meant to one another. But that was going to incredibly awkward – potentially for the rest of her life if he pronounced his undying love or something. That wasn't very Sheppard-esque though.

Elizabeth looked up to see Sheppard staring at her. Or rather, the way she was eating her meatloaf like it was going out of fashion. She smiled, through a mouthful, and then cursed herself for being so disgusting.

'It's not _that_ good.' He commented.

Elizabeth tried to swallow her mouthful with all the dignity she could muster, whilst he continued to look at her in that strange way.

'I'm hungry.' She lied.

'I'm sure nobody's going to take it away.'

'I guess it's been a while since I ate something that isn't a sandwich.' Elizabeth admitted.

'No wonder you're wasting away.' John said.

Elizabeth face dropped in disappointment.

'Not that you don't look great. You look...great. Just, err, a little...You look great.' John said, uncomfortably.

Elizabeth smiled shyly, 'I guess I have lost a little weight.'

'Look, it's to be expected. You're under a lot of stress 'Lizabeth. And, you really do look great.' John said tilting his head and smiling.

To say that Rodney called him 'Kirk', he really was quite nervous with women Elizabeth realised. Or maybe it was just women he knew well...or cared about. Elizabeth sighed and looked across at him. He was gorgeous. Briefly, she smiled to herself; she hadn't called anybody gorgeous since college. Anyway, John was gorgeous; he just couldn't be interested in a woman who was 'wasting away' as he had put it.

'Oh, by the way. Could you send this out with the next dial-in?' John asked, handing her a piece of paper.

Elizabeth unfolded it, and smiled as she saw what it said. She placed it in her pocket and met his eyes, smiling gratefully.

'You shouldn't.' She said.

'Well, it's been a while since I got you a present. And I'm hoping that buying you your own set of clubs will guilt trip you into keeping it up.'

'I could just not send it.' Elizabeth said with a smirk.

'I already figured you'd do that, so I got Rodney to hack into the files and hide it among the personal orders.' He grinned.

Elizabeth eyes widened at him, but all she got in return was a smirk. A very sexy smirk. Sexy? What on earth was she thinking?

'John, can we go for a walk after dinner?' Elizabeth asked quickly.

'Sure. The view from the west pier is stunning at sunset.'

'Great.' Elizabeth said through gritted teeth.

About the moment she had used another adjective which complimented John's physical appearance, Elizabeth realised she going to have to talk to him about whatever was going on here. The more she thought about what Carson had said to her, the more she became aware of the fact that she _did _have feelings for John. She _did _care about what he thought of her appearance. And she _did_ care that he was getting her some golf clubs. The only option for her now was to clear the air before these feelings got out of hand.

As they walked to the west pier, Elizabeth was careful not to give away the purpose of this little excursion so as not to scare him off, and was virtually silent. Part of this was in order to measure people's reactions to them walking together, and she was pleased to discover that nobody had quite had Carson's reaction to seeing them together.

When they arrived Elizabeth turned to see the sunset and inhaled slightly at its beauty. She'd never been needed on the west pier and, consequently, missed out on this vision. For several minutes, she just stood there, staring at the fusions of oranges and reds she had never seen before. This really was a photographer's dream.

'Told you so.' John said.

Elizabeth turned to look at him with an appreciative smile, before turning to look at the sunset again. Feeling the breeze on her skin, she shivered slightly.

'Hey, you're freezing.' John said.

Behind her, she felt the material of his coat slide over her shoulders and jumped away from his touch to look at him face on, shaking slightly.

'I feel the same way, I really do, but this could never work. When would we have the time? I'm sorry.' She said.

'I don't need to worry Elizabeth,' He said coldly, 'Whatever feelings you are having here, aren't reciprocated.'

Elizabeth stared at him dumbly as he put his coat back on and left. The doors slide behind him, signalling the finality of the conversation. Elizabeth sat down against the wall and put her head in her hands. How could she have got it so spectacularly wrong? And now John was angry at her for putting him in such an awkward position – the briefing tomorrow was going to be unbearable.

And he didn't feel the same way. A tear slid from her eye as the realisation hit her. She had finally allowed herself to realise her feelings for him, and now she was left humiliated and without a hope of ever being with him. She should have trusted her instincts that she wasn't his type. And she most certainly shouldn't have decided to talk to him about it.

Wiping her eyes, she stood up with one final wistful look at the sunset and turned to return to her office. She opened the doors looking straight ahead and tripped over the legs that were spread along the floor. A hand quickly grabbed her from fallings, and pulled her to sit down next to the body. It was John. She had known that as soon as she had tripped. They sat side by side in silence.

'I lied.' John said, staring down at his legs.

'What?' Elizabeth asked.

He turned to look at her, 'I lied. I do feel the same way.'

'Why did you say -?'

'Because I couldn't face your pity.' He said honestly.

'John, I would never pity you.'

He took her hand in both of his, and stroked her fingers. The feeling of those hands on her had exactly the same affect that it had had earlier that day, and she found herself leaning into his body to kiss him. He stared at her in confusion for a second, before letting his lips meet hers. It was tender and uncertain, but the whole of Elizabeth body tingled at the feeling of him.

'Now, does that feel like pity?' She asked, resting her forehead against his.

'If it does, I like it.' He teased, 'I thought you said...'

'I changed my mind.'

'I like that too.' He smiled.

'So...?'

'Well, we already have a date booked in for next week, I guess it's just a case of filling the time in until then, and I can think of a few ways...' He said, meeting her mouth again.

'I'm sure you can. Kirk.' She teased.

A/N: Apologies for the slushiness and complete lack of real plot!


End file.
